Lou-Brice Léonard

Lou-Brice Léonard is a French artist born in 1980 in Versailles who lives and works in Paris.

He obtained a degree in aesthetics and cinema at the Sorbonne, he directed several short films since 1998 while practicing sculpture in parallel. He got trained autodidactically since his adolescence by observing and copied old sculptures as a result of his frequent visits of the major national museums in Paris.

His discovery of artists such as Giuseppe Penone strongly influenced his work and that's when his artistic research focused on the exploration of new materials such as clay, he is interested in watching it in its natural state. In fact, he exploited its retractable property when drying clay to obtain natural tearings, which he sands afterwards.

His sculptures of broken, torn, women are later made in glass and cement, Lou-Brice Léonard seeks to exploit the feelings of hardness and coldness that inspire him these materials, that he relates to the dehumanized and impersonal aspect of our society. Through the representation of women, he seeks to establish a contrast between violence and gentleness, violence that he attributes to the male domination and gentleness that he seeks by associating with the female figure which then allows the materials to recover their original minerality (such as glass found in quartz crystal for example).

Antiquity is a big source of inspiration in his work, and the feminine ideal is often represented tirelessly by many artists, he tries to restore some presence to this form of sovereign femininity using iconic material of our time such as cement and glass.

His works have been exhibited several times in group and solo exhibitions including at the Contemporary Art Fair 8th Avenue in 2015. Among his short films, some have been repeatedly awarded in festivals, including his film "Remains" in 2005 and "Every day is a small life " in 2014, released and rewarded worldwide (70 festivals in more than 25 countries).